And They Said It
by Orthane
Summary: She always had bad luck. She's not surprised when it gets much, much worse.
1. Chapter 1

I stared at the pigeons on the floor pecking away and threw some more seeds at them. Everyday I did this. Wake up in the morning, go to the park, find a nice unoccupied bench away from people where I can park my cart and just do absolutely _nothing_.

I dug into that bag of seeds and grunted in discontent when I found nothing, so I got up and began ruffling through the shit that I accumulated in my cart after nearly a year. Rags, bags, empty cans, magazines, papers—you name it. But only thing that I apparently did not have at the moment was a bag of seeds.

Digging deep into my pockets, I pulled out some spare change and counted how much I had at the moment.

$3.77.

A little more than enough to buy a packet of seeds from the convience store. At the time, I didn't know what made me buy a packet of seeds with the little money I had—which I should saved up for something more important and necessary—but I knew that I had to buy them.

So I went.

Pushing my cart along the streets of San Francisco, I mumbled to myself about nothing and everything, daydreaming about what was and wasn't, what could've been and isn't. When I reached proximity of the store, I slowed down and parked my cart along side the stores window. Next to where I parked, I spotted a woman. She was dirty and surrounded by junk, similar to myself, although I was much younger that she.

She looked up and gave me a yellow-toothed smile. "Hey, girlie. You buying another packet of seeds again? You're going to fatten up _all_ the birds of San Fran."

I gave a half-hearted smile. "That's the plan, Maria."

Quickly, I went inside, keeping my head down and going to the chip section that I visited once a week. As I set the seeds on the counter to be rung up by the Asian lady, who I surprisingly never caught the name of, a ringing of the bell near the door sounded and heavy footsteps walked across the shop. The second I looked up, a rugged looking man passed me.

He wore a leather jacket, jeans, and boots. He looked really tough too, I noticed. Not someone I wanted to be associated with, but for some reason piqued a hint of interest in me. The bad boy vibe was pretty cool, but it made me infinitely more weary than curious.

We caught eyes but I quickly looked down and continued to count my change. Just the act of holding eye contact made me jolt and my heart beat a little faster.

Strangers were strange.

The Asian Lady scanned the item and I gave her the money. Before she could ask if I wanted the receipt, I grabbed the packet and hightailed out of the place.

Before I could get to my cart, Maria stood up. "Hey, girl. Wait. I need to tell you something."

At this I stopped and waited. She never stopped me to chat before, so I wondered what she wanted to say.

She coughed into her fist—there was a cold going around in the streets—and began, "There's been news of some people going around talking to homeless. They say that they're gonna give five hundred bucks to people who are willing to do some experiment with them. They also say they're not doing anything about drugs or any of that weird shit. All you have to do is sign up, do some check ups with them, and if your picked, you get to do whatever it is they want and then get that five hundred dollars."

I gave her a squinted look, highly suspicious. "That doesn't sound right. Thanks but I don't th—"

She cut me off. "Wait, wait. I know it doesn't sound good, but they're legit. They're Life Foundation, you know. Those people tried to find the cure to cancer. Try to save lives and shit. You can trust them."

Now that was a much more convincing argument. If they the organization that I read about in a scientific magazine that I found on the floor one day, then consider me signed up. Of course I would trust people who found a gene that would increase the life expectancy up to 3 times for people with cancer.

"You have a place where I can go to sign up or something?" I asked her.

She nodded, and passed me an already dirtied card. "Yeah, but maybe try giving them a call. I don't know what would happen if you go into their building looking like _that_."

I looked down at my appearance and sniffed. I didn't look too bad compared to the other homeless people around.

"Okay, I'll look into it." I held onto the handle of my cart and began wheeling it away, throwing behind my shoulder at the last moment, "Thanks, Maria. I owe you."

As she sat down into her usual place, she muttered, "Fuck yeah, you do."

—

(Three Hours Later)

I slipped the quarters into the public telephone and dialed the number on the card. After two rings, a male answered.

"Hello, this is Micheal on the behalf of Life Foundation. How can I help you today?"

I leaned on one leg, thumbing the card anxiously with gloved fingers. "Yeah, hi. I heard that you're looking for people to sign up for your trial. I was wondering if I can enter?"

"Yes, just one moment." Without waiting for my answer, I was put on hold. Some unrecognizable jazz music sounded from the phone. A minute later another person—a woman—answered sweetly.

"Hi, I'm Jeanette. I will be helping you today. Whats your full name and birthday?"


	2. Chapter 2

I was told to strip completely and that they would provide me with a set of clothing. What they gave me was plain set of undergarments that matched the long sleeved shirt and pants.

They were a bit loose fitted and I poked the unnatural looking indents on my hips. All my life had I been a medium—almost leaning into large—in clothing, so when I realized the vast loss in weight in my body, it unnerved me.

Well, at least now I didn't have to worry about that slight muffin top that gave me trouble when tried to get into my jeans.

"Ms. Bennet, we're ready for your check up." A woman called from the other side of the room after giving the door a few knocks.

"Just a minute." I answered back and hastily went back to wearing the rest clothing without distraction. The clothing was thin and didn't protect against the cool air. I shivered.

The lady, Dr. Kennedy (no relation to the famed Kennedy family—I asked), lead me to another room on the tower's same level. There she conducted the normal procedure for the check up. She checked my heart-rate, breathing, weight, height, and even gave me a specimen cup to fill my you-know-what with. (Its the weirdest thought that people actually examine urine, especially if its yours.)

Dr. Kennedy looked through the papers on her clipboard and looked up at me when she was done. "Well, everything is looking really good, although you are suffering from a bit of malnutrition but that can be easily fixed."

I sighed in relief. But she wasn't finished and what she said next took me by surprise. "Since you passed, you're going to go through some paperwork and if you decide to sign everything thats necessary, we're going to provide you a room and meals for the next two days. Nice, huh?"

I nodded my head. That was more than nice.

The doctor then left me with a packet of papers and a pen to sign with. I got to it—not even bothering to really read the long, periphrastic worded documents. I just wanted all the paperwork and checkups to be done and over with so that we could get to the trials and I could get that five hundred dollars. That money would do me much good for the next six months at least. I could just imagine… Not having to worry about my next meal, collecting extra food from the shelter, being able to spend on the little things that I wanted so bad. Finally it felt like life was finally throwing me a bone.

I clicked the pen closed and attached it to the board in my hand. Flipping through the pages one last time, it looked like everything was perfect, so I got up to turn them in.

"Perfect." Dr. Kennedy said, when she looked through the papers quickly in her office. Next to her stood a woman dressed primly in a clean, freshly ironed suit, more than likely to whisk the paperwork away and do whatever people do with paperwork.

The doctor smiled and shook my hand. "It was nice meeting you, Ms. Bennet. My colleague here will take it from here and show you that room that I told you about. Maybe even get you something to eat. Isn't that right, Sarah?"

"Exactly right, doctor." The other woman smiled warmly and took a step forward to also shake my hand, "Hi, my name is Sarah Rimmell. Let's get you accommodated. Follow me."

I waved goodbye to the pleasant doctor as I was followed the other woman, feeling a bit giddy to be spoiled after a long year sleeping in parks or alleys. She lead me to the elevator and after rising up a few levels, we went down the hall and entered a room. Inside was plain, but it had everything that I wanted. A bed for two, TV, carpet, nice plush chair, and a table. On the table was a tray with a ready meal.

I swallowed a large gulp of saliva and glanced at the woman. Fortunately she noticed my look and began speaking. "I'll go through the rules quickly. One, please don't leave the room. Two, if you need something, just call the number on the phone." She pointed at the phone on the table with a small scrap of paper taped on it. "Three, please don't contact anyone without permission. Again, if you need to talk to someone, call us first and then we'll give you the go."

 _Okaayyyy_. That didn't sound suspicious at all, but I let if go. It's not like I had anyone to talk to anyway.

"—And thats all. Hope you enjoy your stay." With that, she nodded her head at me and closed the door behind her when she left.

I looked around my surroundings for a moment and then took a quick few steps to the table that held my meal. Dropping myself in a seat, I started to dig in and moaned when I swallowed down the amazing food.

I could get used to this.

—

After two days of stuffing myself and lazing around on my bed watching television, unfortunately my small vacation came to an end and I was called to start my trials.

Although I had already scrubbed myself inch by inch earlier in the morning, I was told to have another shower and was dressed in a newer set of clothing.

Everyone around me was so nice and helpful, telling me nothing but good things about the trial—though they never specified what exactly they would do during the trial—and that I would be just fine. It made me feel comfortable and relaxed.

This time, two people lead me to another level, and when we entered the lab, everyone turned and looked at me. All the confidence drained out of me at some of the lab coat's expressions. They were somber and full of pity (I could recognize that expression anywhere. It's one that followed me all over the streets of San Francisco.)—especially one woman's. She looked like she was ready to burst into tears, and swiftly turned away from me when she realized I was watching her.

"Welcome! We're so excited to have you here, Hannah." Said a thin, dark haired man who came up to me all of a sudden, smiling widely. He looked so unassuming, with wide pitch black eyes and a beaming face.

With a hand on my arm, he guided me towards the glass containment. The doors swooshed open and he walked me in. He turned towards me and scanned my face, smiling when he liked whatever he found there.

"Don't worry about anything." He told me comfortingly. "Everything will be just fine. After this, when everything turns out well, it will be because of you. As cliché as it sounds, the world depends on you, Hannah. Don't forget that."

I nodded gravely, but inside I didn't take him seriously. All I wanted was for this to be over and to get that five hundred bucks.

He patted my arm like he was a life long friend of mine and left the room. Situating himself next to all the other scientists, he staring at me in utter fascination with those wide eyes of his. His scrutiny unnerved me so I looked around to find some distraction until I realized the container behind me. Walking up to it, I found a black gooey material moving inside the glass irritatingly, and with every step I took, it seemed to become more provoked and moved more quickly around.

What caught my interest was that it moved almost entirely to the section that was closest to me.

I didn't know if it was magnetic, alive, or it was just pure luck that made it stick to my side of the glass, but I was fascinated by it. The color, the texture, how it moved, all of it just made my mind race. I'd never seen anything like it.

I raised my hand and lied it one the glass where it was stuck on from the other side. It completely stilled at the action.

" _Woah._ " I whispered quietly.

For a moment that lasted an infinity, it was me and the thing. The two of us not moving an inch. And even though I didn't know it at the time, we were both analyzing each other and waiting for either of us to make a move.

That is until the move was made for us and the glass lid began to open.

I scrambled back at the abrupt action and screeched when the black mass slid out of its containment and onto the floor, moving towards me. It was unnatural in every sense of the word, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God." I wheezed. Quickly, I turned and pounded on the glass that separated me from the inhabitants on the other side of the room. "Open the door! Open the fucking door! I swear to god!"

One look over my shoulder showed me how close the thing was getting, so I quickly fled to the other side of the room.

"I didn't fucking sign up for this!" I screeched, terror-stricken and looking for something around in the room to keep it away.

A soft laugh sounded throughout the room through some kind of speaker. "Yes, you did. Maybe you should've taken another glance at that contract."

I bared my teeth in rage at the man who was smiling maniacally at me. What a sick bastard. " _ **Fuck you**_."

During our brief conversation, the black thing had gotten closer and reached me. Right after I had cursed the man who had doomed me, I felt something warm slither up my pants and glide up to my back.

I screamed.

Never in my life had I been more terrified than I had been at the moment when I realized that I was going to die—and that there was a huge possibility that it was going to be a painful death.

"No-no-no-no-no- _no_ —" I wheezed to myself as I watch the mass with wide eyes.

I twisted around, trying to shake it off but it did nothing to stop it from covering all of my stomach and chest. My hands immediately went to that area and grasped onto the slimy creature. It squeezed my chest, stomach, and waist for 10 agonizing seconds until it let go.

Slithering all over my body softly, it brushed against my cheek in a caress and weaved through my limbs and hair. Slowly, it melted down my face, covering it entirely and obstructing my senses entirely. My eyes stayed wide open staring at the pitch darkness of the creature. Quivering knees failing me, I slid down to the floor still clutching onto it.

I couldn't breathe. _I couldn't breathe._

My mind felt muddled and overwhelmed, my breath hitching was the only warning that my body went limp and collapsed entirely on the floor.

Unbeknownst to me, the gooey creature skittered to the back of my head when I began to fall, preventing it from cracking painfully on the floor.


End file.
